Ohanami
by Lucathia Rykatu
Summary: A series of three oneshots surrounding Yoh, Anna, and Hana. 1. Hanami, flower viewing. 2. Hanabi, fireworks. It starts with Anna bringing Yoh to see the cherry blossoms. Now it is Yoh's turn to take Anna to see the fireworks.
1. Hanami, flower viewing

O - hana – mi

"Flower Viewing"

by Lucathia

**A little bit of Japanese culture:** In the Spring, there is a time span of around two weeks or less when the sakura (or cherry blossoms) bloom. The Japanese usually take time off from work and go with friends and family to watch the sakura fall. The sakura signify transcendence and beauty, and how we must all cherish what we have because life is short-lived. (Flower viewing is a pretty important event in Japan.)

**Summary:** A few years after the Shaman Fight, Yoh becomes withdrawn. Anna, unable to stand Yoh's behavior, tries to persuade Yoh to sit under the sakura trees with her. Ends with the naming of their son. Yona one-shot

**Note:** First in a series of three one-shots

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Shaman King.

It's not Spring yet, but I present you, O-hana-mi.

* * *

He didn't know when it had become a tradition to avoid his friends when they wanted to go flower viewing. Every Spring, he made himself scarce. He always found reasons to disappear, despite how unreasonable they seemed to be. He supposed that his reluctance to go flower viewing hadn't been a big deal in the beginning. It could probably have been chalked up to his infamous laziness. But after he started making his excuses the first time around, he found that he couldn't back out of it. 

The first year, he told Anna that he wasn't feeling well, so he was going to visit Faust while the group went flower viewing. He had expected Anna to berate him for daring to get sick on such an important day, but somehow, she had refrained from saying anything. He had just shrugged it off as being lucky.

The second year, he found that he couldn't use Faust as an excuse anymore. It wasn't that he was afraid of using the same reason again...but frankly, his friend was longer living in the same world. The cheerful necromancer had passed away with the most content smile ever adorning his face. Dying because of exhaustion had been a blessing for him, because in death he was truly able to reunite with Eliza. With Faust dead, he told Anna that his father had wanted to meet him instead. Anna had raised her eyebrow at that...since when did Mikihisa want to bond with his son? But she hadn't commented and just let him go his way.

The third year, he once again found he couldn't use his father as an excuse anymore either. Just like how Faust had passed away, Mikihisa had strangely undergone a similar fate. His father, who was undoubtedly a rather strong shaman and an optimistic man, had died by a normal car accident. No one had seen it coming. No one had thought that it would be that easy to kill an Asakura off.

The fourth year, he gave up on making excuses. He had contemplated telling Anna that he had to buy Bob's newest CD, or telling Anna that he had forgotten to wash the floor, but he doubted that Anna would accept those as valid excuses. So instead of making something up, he told her that he didn't feel like going.

Anna, strangely, left him alone. And he was glad that no one else had died.

The fifth year, he told Anna once again that he didn't feel like going. Since she had let him off the hook relatively easy the past few years, he had wrongly assumed that she would do the same thing this year. However, it seemed that being pregnant tended to change a person. A lot. This year, Anna was anything but patient with him, though maybe it was the five years of him being a jerk that had finally made her snap and not her pregnancy.

His very pregnant wife glared at him as she cradled her tummy.

"Asakura Yoh, I'm not taking "no" for an answer."

He felt as if the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped drastically. His friends, namely Ren and Horo Horo, watched their display warily. Tamao, Pirika, and Jun tried to continue packing their picnic as if nothing was wrong, but of course, they failed.

"But Anna, I can't...I can't go," he pleaded.

His wife of one-year maintained her glare.

"I told you. I won't take "no" for an answer. It's either you go, or we're over."

His eyes widened at her statement, and how her expression never changed. He could hear the murmurings of his friend in the background, which died away as quickly as they came.

"A-Anna..."

How could she force him to do this? He couldn't go flower viewing!

He was afraid that he was going to break if he saw those sakura petals fall.

Flower viewing was just so...wrong.

But looking at his bristling wife, he knew that she was one who would go through with her words. If he didn't go, she truly would terminate their relationship. Even her being pregnant wouldn't stop her.

And so, he found himself getting off the car at the spot that they had picked to view the sakura. The moment he stepped off the car, he felt as if he was going to suffocate from the mobs of people there who were all trying to grab the best location. Festivity was clearly in the air as family members greeted each other and classmates enthusiastically waved their friends over. It was a bit too much for him to handle.

He almost didn't see Manta among the crowd, since he was just so short. They had sent him ahead to secure a spot for them as they finished packing the lunches. It was Manta's yells of "Over here!" that finally gave them the means to locate the short boy.

When they managed to squeeze their way over, Manta was surprised to see him there.

"Yoh-kun...?"

He just shrugged and helped Anna sit down on the tablecloth that Jun had spread on the ground for them. He then proceeded to sit down next to her, his eyes trained on the ground, the tablecloth, the basket...anywhere but at the sakura trees.

His friends tried to pretend that he wasn't ignoring them by bringing out the food. Pirika and Tamao quickly set the baskets down while Horo Horo dug in. He felt a nudge as Anna handed him an orange.

He took it without a word but didn't move to peel it. Instead, he left it besides him as he tried to force himself to look up.

It was now or never.

His breath caught in his throat as he watched one lone sakura petal drift down from the tree dotted with pink. He followed the petal's path, its twirling in the air, its struggle to stay afloat. But sadly, the petal eventually ended up limp on the ground.

He tasted his salty tears even before he knew that he had started crying. The tightly constrained emotions that he had kept locked up inside of him ever since the end of the Shaman Fight broke out of their dam, drowning him in misery, guilt, trepidation, and most of all, regret.

He had killed his brother with his very own hands. Never mind that he had done it for the good of the world. It didn't change the fact that he had been the one to kill him.

He tore his blurry gaze away from the sakura trees, instead staring at his hands with mute fascination.

He had tried to shut himself off from the outside world. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel that Faust and his father's death were his fault as well.

It was all his fault.

A gust of wind picked up. A girl squealed in delight before people hushed her.

Yoh glanced up once again through his blurry eyes and promptly forgot how to speak.

Millions of pink petals fluttered through the sky, creating a dance to the tune of a heavenly song. It was as if it were snowing petals, the gentle snow colored in a rosy pink, the fragrance delighting all those surrounding the trees. The petals continued falling and falling, drifting and drifting. A soft carpet of pink soon covered the ground.

He sighed, a strangled whisper leaving his lips.

"Why must death be so beautiful?"

A hand gently picked out a pink petal that had fallen into his hair.

"No, Yoh, it is life that is beautiful. Can't you see that the flowers, in the short amount of time that they live, have already given life their best shot? Even if life is short, we can live it to the fullest."

He turned towards his wife, slightly surprised at her words. He watched her twirl the fallen petal in her hand. She was never one to say poetic things out in the open...or such optimistic words either.

She tucked the petal behind her ear as she took his hand and placed it over her tummy.

"Can you feel him?"

He felt a rare sense of joy when he felt something kick against his hand.

"Don't give up on life Yoh. You still have so much more to live for."

He felt the tears coming again, but it wasn't because of cooped up frustration or regret. He saw that he still had his entire life in front of him. This was no time to be feeling regretful over the past. He couldn't afford to live in the past. What had he been doing these past few years anyway? He had almost wasted away.

He cried, this time tears of joy.

"Thank you Anna. For...everything."

A small smile adorned her face as Yoh suddenly realized all over again just how much he loved her. Sitting there amidst the fallen petals and cradling their soon-to-be-born baby, Asakura Anna was the woman of his dreams.

"What shall we name him?" asked Anna as she tucked a strand of her long, silky hair behind her ear next to the petal she still wore.

He blinked, his mind not entirely processing Anna's sudden question. "Him? Who?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Silly Yoh! Him, of course!" She pointed at her belly.

He blushed. "Oh, him. Wait, how do you know it's a boy?"

She shrugged. "I just know, okay? So, what do you want to name him? It better not be some silly name like Bob or Joe or-"

"Hana."

Anna looked at him. "Hana?"

He nodded, glancing back at the dancing flower petals gracing the air with their presence.

Hana.

He had been so reluctant to go to these "o hana mi" over the years, but it was flower viewing that finally brought him out of his misery.

Hana.

A combination of the two names of the two most important people in his life.

"What do you think?" he asked finally.

She glanced back at the sakura trees, her eyes dancing.

"I thought I told you it'd be a boy?"

He shrugged. "Hana works for both, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I guess it's better than Bob or Joe."

He smiled, bringing her closer to him as they continued watching the dance of the sakura petals.

* * *

"Ne, Tamao, give me a hug too!" teased Horo Horo in the background. 

"Baka oniichan! Be quiet!" yelled Pirika.

He ignored their teasing, instead briefly brushing his lips against the pink petal behind Anna's ear.

"Oh, Tamao, give me a kiss too!"

"Eto...shouldn't it be the other way around?"

* * *

-**the end**-

* * *

**A/N:** (blinks) A rare...somewhat angsty romance from me. OOC Yoh? Well, it's the first in a series of three one-shots, so two more coming up. Next is "O-hana-bi," translated to "fireworks," in Anna's POV. 

By the way, I'm not making up Faust and Mikihisa's death. They do die quite early after the series, according to the author of SK, though I'm not sure exactly when. It was just convenient for the plot of this story. (ducks from the Dangerous Objects chucked by readers)

Please review!


	2. Hanabi, fireworks

H A N A B I

"fireworks"

by Lucathia

**summary: **Before they leave their normal life behind, Yoh decides to bring Anna to the summer festival. second in a series of three one-shots surrounding Yoh, Anna, and Hana.

**A/N:** It's been almost a year since I've finally had the inspiration to continue this mini-series. Or even write SK, for all that matters. I finally read the last volume of SK last month, hence why this plot of this fic took a slightly different turn than expected. This is not what happens in canon, so think of this as an AU.

**disclaimer:** I do not own Shaman King.

First Spring, now Summer, but I never post at the right times. Still, I now present to you, "Hanabi."

* * *

When she woke up, he was already gone from her side. She shivered, but instead of pulling her blankets closer to her, she pushed them away. Gingerly, she stood up, cradling her stomach instinctively. Even standing up was a chore in and of itself.

She left the empty bed behind her.

It didn't take long for her to find him. He was outside, dangling his legs over the deck, leaning backwards with his arms supporting him, gazing up at the wide, blue sky with not a cloud in sight. The sun was strong today, as was the norm of these long summer days, but it did nothing to thaw the cold silhouette that Yoh presented. His shadow stretched out behind him, unmoving and untouchable, like a stain that had already spread and could spread no more.

Her footsteps were light. He didn't turn around. He didn't move at all. She stopped behind him, feeling the warmth of the sun seep through her as she came out from under the shadows of the eaves.

Her eyes swept over their garden, which was really nothing more than the grass that spread out in front of the inn with a few trees and flowers planted here and there. In the corner, there was a well that was more for appearances than practical use. She hadn't touched the well in years, though sometimes she ordered Ryu to fetch water for her even though they did have running water in the inn. She just liked the idea of putting the well to use, as long as she wasn't the one doing the manual labor. Not using it would have been a waste.

Funbari Onsen. Their inn. Their pride. This sad little garden was part of it too. Ever since the final battle in Patch, Yoh had become withdrawn. Oh, he was still the lazy boy that she had known since childhood, drifting through life, taking things as they come, letting events run their course. But she could not deny that Yoh demonstrated a stubborn reluctance to do move on. Only through running the inn did Yoh show any passion whatsoever. But now--she touched her stomach gently---now both of them had something more to look forward to.

Or so she had thought. Her eyes snapped back to Yoh. Something was bothering him again. She'd glare and yell, demanding to know, but that didn't work anymore, not with this Yoh who was stuck, who couldn't go forward yet couldn't leave the past behind. Well, she still glared, but she found that silence, when it became unbearable, was the best incentive for someone to start talking, if only to fill in the silence.

She waited. And her rare bout of patience paid off.

"Anna..."

His voice was so soft that she could have imagined it within the deafening silence.

"Anna," he repeated, his voice slightly stronger though still wavering.

Still, she waited, almost wincing when the baby kicked. Even the baby was urging his father to hurry up.

"Anna," he said a third time, as if he could continue no further than her name. "Anna." He repeated again and again, as if her name was the only thing between him and hysteria. "Anna..."

Finally, she wrapped her arms around him, stopping his onslaught of hysteria, embracing his coldness, sharing her warmth. He melted into her arms. But it was okay, because she was there to support him, as he had supported her years ago when she had been stuck in her cage of ice.

"Anna..." he whispered again, this time calmly.

She could feel his eyes closing, whether in resignation or relief she did not know.

"He's alive."

She didn't have to ask who. There was only one person who could cause this kind of reaction in Yoh. The 'how' part of the story she did not fully understand. However, she did know that life as she knew it would never again be the same.

* * *

She could not let Yoh go alone, for she had a feeling he would not come back otherwise. She could not care for her child on the road, and she had a selfish wish for her child to grow up living at Funbari Onsen, the place where she felt most protected.

And so she decided...but it wasn't an easy decision.

* * *

"Let's go to the summer festival," suggested Yoh soon after he explained the dream he had, as if nothing were wrong. Yoh was, like usual, taking things as they came, holding his optimistic view that everything would fall into place, that nothing could go wrong.

"No," was her immediate response.

He frowned, tilting his head in a questioning manner. "Why not?"

"Too many people. Too crowded. Too disorienting. Too tiring. Too dirty. Need I go on?" she remarked disdainfully, unconsciously remembering the time when she could not control her power, when she was the victim of unwanted thoughts. Crowds only made it worse. Even though the power of hearing other people's thoughts was no longer plaguing her, she would never forget those days. Isolated yet not, trapped within a web of thoughts that were not her own, unable to trust anyone...that had been her pitiful life.

Yoh looked very, very disappointed.

Anna rolled her eyes. "And, aren't you forgetting that I'm due anytime soon? My back aches like crazy, my legs feel like they don't belong to me, and my pelvic hurts! Yoh, give me a massage."

As she felt his large hands expertly kneading her shoulders, her tenseness slowly ebbed away. With it went her cranky mood as well.

"You're right." She could feel his murmur against her neck. "I'm so stupid for forgetting about that. You should stay at home and rest. Take lots of naps and be as lazy as you want."

She tensed again immediately. The cicadas outside were annoyingly loud. Her hands clenched together, and she suddenly realized that she had to go to the bathroom again. Stupid pregnancy. She'd be damned if she was going to let something like this stop her from going out of the house. She had control over her pregnancy, not the other way around.

"Yoh, let's go."

Yoh blinked, bewildered Anna's sudden change of mind.

The call of the cicadas reminded her of the present, of Summer. The transient Spring was already gone, but the memory of the falling cherry blossoms that she had forced Yoh to admire mere months ago was still vivid in her mind. She wondered if Yoh wasn't trying to do something similar for her.

She had relented, though she was stubborn to show it.

* * *

Pregnant women weren't fit for wearing yukata, was her first thought when she stepped out of the inn. Especially pregnant women in their last trimester of pregnancy. The obi was a pain to wrap around herself when her arms could barely reach behind. She almost thanked Tamao when the girl had helped her tie the damn thing.

But she relished the softness of the cotton yukata, which, if she ignored the blasted obi, was actually not as stifling as she thought it'd be. It was light and airy, too colorful for her taste, though that didn't stop it from being one of the rare outfits that still fit her in her pregnancy. The wooden geta, however, she could have done without. It was hard enough walking in the restricting yukata. She had to go put herself on stilts.

When she stumbled, however, Yoh was always there. She glanced appraisingly at his dark yukata, one that she had skillfully made herself. She certainly had the right fashion sense.

But her outfit, on the other hand...

"I look ugly in this."

Yoh glanced at her unbelievingly. "But Anna, I think the color looks really nice on you," said Yoh, his hand entwined with hers. Their wooden geta clunked together as they crossed the bridge.

"What color? It's just a mismatch of colors! You can't even tell me what the color is except that it's colorful!" The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that the yukata was downright ugly. It was making her look ugly too. "Besides, bright and colorful yukata are for little girls. And I'm not a little girl anymore."

She never was.

As they neared the main parts of the festival, the noises became louder. She rubbed her forehead absentmindedly. She let her hand drop when she realized what she was doing.

The noise was just noise. General chatter from among the crowd. One person talking to another, and that next person doing the same. One with the second, the second with the third. And on and on the cycle continued, until the chatter weaved together and was no longer distinguishable unless one strained to hear.

She felt Yoh squeeze her hand, giving her that brilliant smile of his. "What do you want to do first? Goldfish? Shooting? Or maybe food?" His eyes seemed to light up at that last word.

The crowd became more and more prominent, people milling about while others rushed here and there. The assortment of yukata that the people were wearing was dazzling. Multitudes of lanterns lit the cheerful road, lighting the path that was dedicated to festivity that night.

"I'd rather go somewhere less crowded," was her answer, her throat dry.

Yoh's stomach chose that time to announce that food was clearly the better choice. He didn't blush, but he did smile rather sheepishly.

"Festival food is awesome though. Can't we get some and then head over towards the stream over there where it's nice and quiet?"

"Out of your own money," she retorted. She felt a bit hungry herself, actually.

Yoh nodded eagerly. "Of course!"

They head towards one of the vendors, lead by their nose. When Yoh finished ordering, he frantically searched his sleeves. Anna had a bad feeling about his actions. And she was correct, as usual.

She didn't think he could look any more abashed than he was.

"Um, Anna...I can't find my wallet. Maybe I forgot it."

She scowled. "You're scrubbing the toilet when we get home."

With that, she paid the vendor and stomped on Yoh's foot as best as she could, given that she couldn't manage any large movements, as she headed away from the crowds toward the quiet stream.

* * *

They sat on a fairly large, cool stone next to the bridge. The stream below them was quietly trickling through its course, running between the rocks and pebbles. Anna leaned against Yoh, exhaustion coming over her.

Why had she ever decided to come to the blasted festival? It truly was too tiring for her and way too noisy. She even had to spend money out of her own pocket.

But festivals...held a special place in her heart.

_Boom._

She looked up at the very first fireworks of the night. It exploded into a million colors, the prominent red and yellow sparks spreading out from the center, filling the night sky with trails of light. The trails sizzled into nothingness, leaving only wisps of smoke behind. _Boom. _Another followed the same path into the sky, as yet another burst into those dazzling colors and then sizzled away.

"Hanabi, is it..." she whispered, feeling Yoh's warmth against her cotton yukata. She remembered the awful power that plagued her in the past, yet she also remembered Yoh, her Yoh, and how he had come for her, gallantly bringing her to the festival, albeit very much against her will. He had been blushing so hard and all of his thoughts were projected to her, but she had been surprised at how unafraid of her he was. And he...liked her. Found her cute. He had broken into her last defenses during a festival just like the one they were enjoying at the moment. Somewhat enjoying, in her case.

It wouldn't hurt reliving and cherishing a few old moments now and then. She hated that fireworks polluted the air and were so deafening. Humans were stupid in trying to capture the fleeting beauty that was Nature in producing something like fireworks. But because Yoh was next to her watching the same thing, she felt a smile spread over her face anyway as she settled back to enjoy the view.

At least, she tried to.

Maybe it was the booming fireworks providing a grand entrance or something equally egotistic, as expected of one carrying the Asakura name.

Her baby Hana decided then that it was time for him to come into the world.

-----the end-----

Ohanami was Yoh's story. Hanabi was Anna's story. Last in the series is Hana's story, "Hanashi," which means...well, "story" actually. With that, we conclude this mini-series on the latest additions to the Asakura family. Please look forward to Hana's story, ne?


End file.
